Apparatus for finishing wire



H. ROBERTS.

APPARATUS FOR FINISHING WIRE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

HENRY ROBERTS, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR FINISHING WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,287, dated November 29, 1881.

Application filed May 27, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that HENRY ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Allegheny, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Finishing Zinc Coated Wire, of which the following is a specification.

Wires of iron or steel in being coated with zinc by being passed through a bath of the latter metal at a high temperature tend to retain too much zinc, and to retain it in a coating of irregular thickness on different parts. This requires to be removed by some means. If the wires are allowed to remain too thickly coated more zinc is consumed than is neces sary, and this, instead of an advantage, is an evil. It makes the wires too stiff and tends to induce a separation of the zinc from the wires, particularly where the wires are formed into short bends for any reason, after the coating. The means available for wiping tin from such wires are not applicable to the treatment of zinc-coated wires, because of the higher temperature involved, which destroys any ordinary wiping material. Loose materialsas sand, asbestus, and slag woolrequire to be agitated to present fresh surfaces and compensate for their wear.

My present invention removes the surplus metal by an action analogous to scraping, performed by solid pieces of metal, glass, or other suitable material. It is customary to attach the several long pieces of wire together by a rude splice or loop, and thus to make the finishing end of one piece draw in the succeeding r piece of wire. Thissplioeis considerablylarger than the main portion of the wire.

I have devised an apparatus or means for very etiiciently removing the surplus metal from the wire by solid pieces or dies made in closely-matchingbutseparablesections. These section pieces automatically open or separate to allow the passage of the splices, as they occur at long intervals, and close again against the wire. Any ridges of melted metal lying on the wire after moving past these dies or scrapers are easily smoothed down by a slight subsequent wiping, which is effected at the same operation by any ordinary or suitable granular or fibrous material.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, and represent what I con- (No model.)

sider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure l is avertical section through my device and adjacent portions. The remaining figures are on a larger scale, and represent the dies. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the'dies and weight, corresponding to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 98 in Fig. 2, and shows the dies partlyseparated by the passage of the loops which form the connection be tween two lengths of wire. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the front of the dies or the face on which the wire enters. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the back of the dies.

Similarletters ofreference indicate like parts in all the figures.

I is the metal bath, and m a wire passing through it, impelled and guided by rollers and reels in the ordinary manner. (Not shown.) It rises in the inclined position represented, thickly coated with the fluid or semi-fiuid zinc.

Kis the wiping box or frame, which sup-.

ports and holds the several wipers or scrapers in a favorable position to allow the surplus metal to fall back again into the metal bath. There may be a series of the wires side by side about one and one-half inch apart, the series extending across the whole or a large part of the width of the tank I. A description of the devices for scraping one will suffice for all.

Referring to Fig. 1, K is the front of the bottom of the wiping-box, or a stout bar or platform which corresponds thereto. On itis bolted or otherwise firmly fixed a carefullyshaped die or scraper, N, of chilled iron or other suitable material adapted to withstand much abrading force.

N N are side dies. They rest on the beddie N by their inclined sides, as shown.

N is a top die. It is fitted in the top of a movable yoke, R, which is formed with stout sides, projecting downward, the inner faces of which are beveled and smoothed, as shown, to press inward these dies N N The backs of the dies N N are correspondingly beveled. The adjacent faces of the lateral dies, N N, and the inclosing yoke or cap Rare nicely finished, and may be lubricated to allow the yoke R to be lifted by a lateral expansion of the dies N N By slightly grinding the adjoining surfaces of these dies N N N N I can compensate for any wearing away there may have been of the acting inner surfaces of the dies from long usage. The wire m on emerging from the zinc bath passes between the dies, which are prepared by being bored or otherwise grooved, as shown. When the dies are together they touch each' other by the extended beveled surfaces shown, but leaving space between them at the point where these joints converge, which space is conical, with its large end toward the bath I. When the dies are tightly forced together the small end (marked a) is about the size of the wire to be treated.

In the use of the apparatus the yoke R is loaded or pressed down with any desired force by the gravity of an applied weight, T 5 or an adjustable spring may be substituted. for the weight. It is important that it be of a nature which can yield automatically when a splice in the wire m is received, and caused to pass in its oblique journey through the hole a. The upper end of each sliding weight T is provided with a hook, as shown, by which the attendant may raise the weight to ease the dies when a joint is expected to pass or for any other reason. So long as a continuous portion of the wire on is passing steadily throughthe apparatus, the dies or scrapers N N N N are pressed tightly together, and the wire is scraped to remove all the surplus metal, leaving only a thin coating. When asplice occurs, asindicated by m, the enlargement acting on the several dies by spreading the hole a forces upward the die N and also forces out laterally the dies N N, and the yoke R is lifted by one or both actions-that is to say, if the splice happens to come in such position as to lift directly on the die N the yoke R is lifted by the direct force thereof. 1f the splice chances to be presented in such position thatit presses laterally against the dies N N it will, by forcing them apart, act on the inclined inner faces of the hinder or yoke It, and thereby induce the required lifting motion. In any way the splice or enlargement can be presented it willresult in lifting the yoke or hinder B, and allowing the upper die, N, to lift and the lateral dies N N to move apart. The moment the splice has passed the gravity of the yoke R, aided or not by other forces, as suggested, induces a prompt return of the several dies to their original closed condition.

My wiping or scraping mechanism should be placed so close to the bath of melted metal I, and the wires should be caused to traverse so rapidly that the heat will still be high and the zinc quite fluid after the wire has passed the dies. The dies scrape nearly all the cylindrical surfa cc of the wire, but mayleave four small fins or joint-lines in which the metal will be left in excess. The heat should be sufficient to allow these ridges to immediately diffuse themselves and spread over the adjacent portion of the surfaces, so that the wire cools with the zinc in a thin and practically uniform surface over the whole.

In order to insure the spreading of the four slight longitudinal ridges of zinc which remain on the wire after its passage through my dies or scrapers, I introduce a mass of slag wool, W, in a box behind the dies, and separated therefrom by a sufficient partition, V, to prevent the fibrous mineral matter from coming in contact with the dies, so as to clog their opening and closing action. My scraping apparatus effects the desired end by removing the surplus metal very reliably and without requiring attention.

The tapering form of the cavity left between the several dies serves a very important function by allowing the enlargement due to the linked condition of the wires at the junction of one with another to enter the large end of the cavity, and as the movement of the wire moves the enlarged or linked parts upward in its inclined path between the dies causes them to automatically force open the dies, so as to allow the passage of a very considerable enlargement. The moment it has passed the dies re turn automatically to their original closed condition.

Modifications may be made. I may, if preferred, have the wires emerge perpendicularly.

from the bath of molten metal and the dies correspondingly arranged with the smoothing materialW in a separated box above the dies. This will allow the four or more dies to be all of exactly the same shape, and thereby simplify the placing and adjustment of them. The material W must be kept carefully separate from the dies, so that none of said material may fall between the different sections of the dies and prevent them from fully closing. I can provide the. top of the weight T with a spur for holding in place additional weights which may he put on to increase the pressure on the wire at any time. The closeness of the scraping may be varied by exchanging the weights T.

I claim as my inventicnl. The automatically opening and closing die made in four or other convenient number of parts divided centrally, or approximately so, in combination with the bath I of melted metal and provisions for inducing the traverse of the wire through the bath and dies, as herein specified.

2. The combination of the dies N N N N, formed to leave the tapering hole a between them, with the yoke It, having inclined sides, as shown, and the adjustable weight T, all arranged to operate substantially as herein specified.

3. The combination, with a melted metal bath I, of the scrapers N N N N, and the material W, for a subsequent wiping treatment, arranged to serve as here n specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, this 14th day of May, 1881, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY ROBERTS.

Witnesses:

W. MAORUM, W. G. MAORUM,

IIO 

